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Chapter Fourteen
They're going to be very, very angry. "
Richard grimaced at Robert's prediction, knowing the man was right. But real y, leaving the women behind was the best choice. Christiana and her sisters could now relax and enjoy themselves together at Radnor and be out of harm's way while he, Daniel and Robert hunted down their blackmailer. Besides, it seemed ridiculous to drag the maids, the chests, and al three carriages back to London when they would just have to make the return journey in a couple of days' time for Suzette and Daniel to marry. And they could travel much more swiftly with just the one carriage. They had taken Woodrow's carriage because it was the fastest. They were making good time. They'd stopped at three different inns along the way to change horses, but were stil more than three quarters of the way back to London and Richard was sure it wasn't yet midnight.
"They wil get over their anger," Daniel said now, not sounding at al worried about Suzette's reaction to their defection. Robert just shook his head. "Trust me. I have known the Madison sisters al my life. You wil not get off easily for this. Either of you. " He let that sink in and then glanced to Richard. "I was glad to see Christiana stand up for herself and make you listen back at the house. It was a good sign. "
"How so?" Richard asked curiously, recal ing his surprise when he'd placed her in the carriage and she'd suddenly snapped at him.
"She is being herself with you. It shows she isn't afraid of you as I think she was with Dicky . . . er . . . George," he corrected himself. "The one time I saw them together after the wedding she was as jumpy as a cat. I feared he was taking his fists to her, but she assured me he wasn't. "
"Did you believe her?" Richard asked, frowning at the possibility that George may have beaten Christiana on top of everything else.
"Yes. Christiana is a terrible liar and I'm sure she was tel ing the truth, but she was stil afraid of the man. " He shook his head. "Perhaps she just feared what would happen if he did lose his temper. "
Richard scowled. No one should have to live in fear. A body should feel safe in their own home.
"That doesn't matter now though," Robert said after a moment. "The good news is she doesn't appear to fear you the same way. I think the two of you wil make a fine match. "
"Thank you," Richard said dryly, but was secretly quite pleased with Robert's words. Christiana was proving to be intel igent, passionate and capable. words. Christiana was proving to be intel igent, passionate and capable.
He liked the woman, and suspected he could more than like her with a little time.
"Does Christiana like - " Richard began, and then grabbed for something to hold on to as a loud crack preceded the carriage suddenly pitching to the side. The next moments were a chaos of shouts, and whinnies as the three men were tossed about. The carriage seemed to rol and crash end over end, and then everything suddenly went stil and silent.
For one moment, Richard was too dazed to be quite sure what had happened and where he was, but then he heard a groan beneath him and realized the lumpy something he was lying on was either Daniel or Robert. He also became aware that something heavy lay on top of him, making it hard to breathe. Grimacing, he lifted a hand to touch whatever it was and was rewarded with another groan and a heel or elbow - he wasn't sure which in the darkness -
dug into his groin as whoever was on top of him began to struggle to get off.
"Lord Woodrow?"
The darkness surrounding them was suddenly relieved when the carriage door was yanked open above them and the driver peered in with a lit lantern in hand. It was then Richard realized the carriage had come to a halt on its side. He grunted as the man on top of him unintentional y jabbed him in the side as he struggled to sit up. The fel ow then reached up for the opening and began to pul himself out, but it wasn't until he was halfway through the opening, his face lit up by the driver's lantern that Richard knew it was Robert.
"Damn, Richard, get off me, I can't breathe," Daniel gasped beneath him, apparently recognizing Robert as wel . Richard immediately began to move, doing his best not to elbow or otherwise poke his friend as he did. Of course, that was impossible and he muttered several apologies as he shifted his weight to the side. Kneeling in the overturned carriage, he then turned back to ask, "Are you al right?"
"Battered and bruised, but otherwise fine I think," Daniel said grimly, sitting up beside him. "You?"
"The same," Richard said on a sigh and then glanced up to the opening and the stil waiting driver. Robert was now also peering back in at them.
"What happened?" Daniel asked his driver as he stood and began to pul himself through the opening.
"I'm not sure, my lord," the driver said unhappily. "We were riding along fine and then I heard a crack, and the carriage pitched and began to rol . Fortunately, the carriage body snapped just behind the boot and the horses weren't dragged with it or they would have died for certain. "
"And you weren't hurt?" Richard heard Daniel ask the man as he fol owed him out of the carriage.
"I was tossed, but landed on a bush. I'm al right," the man muttered, and then added with disgust, "But the coach is a wreck. I don't think it can even be fixed. "
"As long as everyone is al right," Daniel said and raised an eyebrow in question at Robert.
"Fine," the other man assured him, easing to the edge of the carriage to leap down. "I got an elbow in the face during one of the rol s and wil probably have a black eye, but otherwise am fine. "
Daniel grunted at this news and moved to inspect the two wheels on the upraised side of the carriage. Richard shifted to the edge of the carriage to look them over as wel , but both seemed fine so they fol owed Robert to the ground and moved to peer at the broken wheel.
"That's a rather straight break," Daniel muttered suspiciously as they peered at the spokes.
"You think they were cut?" Richard asked peering at what remained attached to the carriage.
"Those three spokes certainly look like they could have been," Daniel pointed out. "The rest are more splintered and natural-looking breaks. They probably snapped under the pressure when those three gave way. "
Richard frowned at the suggestion and straightened to glance around. "I agree.
The question is if it was deliberate, who did it and why? And when?"
"The why is easy," Daniel said quietly. "As far as George's kil er knows, the poison didn't work. As for when . . . " He peered back at the broken wheel. "It couldn't have been done in town. There were four of us in the carriage this morning on the way to Radnor. The wheel would have given out under that kind of weight before we left London. Besides, you weren't even in my carriage on the way out of town. "
"So it was done at Radnor or one of the three stops since we left," Richard reasoned and glanced around again. He didn't doubt for a minute he was the target, but he was more concerned with the possibility that someone may have fol owed them from London and might yet be fol owing them.
"Is that a carriage I hear?" he asked suddenly.
"Yes, and it's moving quickly. We'd best get off the road. " Daniel cal ed to his driver to warn him and the man immediately urged the horses onto the grassy verge.
He then moved back to the edge of the road with his lantern and lifted it in the air to swing it back and forth to get the attention of the approaching vehicle.
"A coach and six," Robert muttered as the vehicle careened around the bend and into view on the moonlit lane. The oncoming coachmen spotted Daniel's driver and swerved to miss him. He didn't slow, however, but raced right past them.
"Wasn't that - ?" Robert began.
"Yes," Richard said grimly, having recognized the Radnor coach with Christiana, Suzette and Lisa al gaping out the window at them.
"I did tel you they would not take our leaving sitting down," Robert said with amusement.
"You didn't say they would fol ow," Daniel pointed out.
"Why spoil the surprise?" Robert laughed.
Richard rol ed his eyes and then watched the Radnor coach return from the direction it had gone. He wasn't surprised to see it returning. However, he was surprised when it pul ed to a halt next to them and the women did not immediately pile out exclaiming with concern over their wel -being after their accident. Instead, it sat silent and stil , the driver glancing uncertainly from the men to the stil closed coach door and back.
"Time to face the music," Robert said dryly, heading for the door.
Daniel grunted and then glanced to his own driver and ordered him to tie the leads of their horses to the back of the Radnor carriage and then join the driver on the front. They would stop at the next inn to leave the horses. Daniel's driver would stop there as wel to arrange for someone to col ect the broken carriage and see if it could be fixed.
"Hel o ladies," Robert said cheerful y as he opened the carriage door and got inside.
There was a polite chorus of hel os and then silence, Richard noted as he approached the open door. Glancing in, he saw that Robert had settled next to Christiana on one bench seat, leaving Suzette and Lisa on the other. His gaze moved over the women's sour expressions as they peered back at him and he sighed, but said, "Hel o ladies," as he entered as wel . This time, however, there was no response and thick silence reigned as he squeezed onto the bench seat between Robert and Christiana. There was also no response when Daniel entered with the same greeting. It was obvious the women were holding him and Daniel responsible for leaving without them, and despite being with them, Robert was not being held accountable. At least not by Christiana and Suzette, Richard thought as he tried to find a comfortable position on the seat. Lisa alone was glaring at Langley. The carriage started forward then, and Richard found himself jolted and then tossed against Christiana as they turned to head toward London. He quickly tried to ease back to give her more room, but found himself pressing uncomfortably against Robert to do so. Muttering with irritation, he gave up trying to force more space on the narrow seat and simply lifted Christiana onto his lap and slid over into her spot. the narrow seat and simply lifted Christiana onto his lap and slid over into her spot.
"Put me down," Christiana cried at once.
"This is more comfortable," Richard said.
"Perhaps for you," she snapped.
"For you too," he said confidently, relaxing and wrapping his arms around her waist. "You are just too angry at me to admit it. "
She twisted sideways across his lap to scowl at him and asked, "Why ever would I be angry at you? Just because the three of you snuck out like a trio of cowards leaving the poor pastor to explain you'd headed back to London without us?"
"We thought we were doing you a favor at the time," Richard said quietly. "You would have been much more comfortable waiting at Radnor with your maids. "
"The maids are fol owing in Robert's carriage," she announced, and then added grimly, "And if you'd thought you were doing us a favor, you would have told us yourselves you were leaving. "
"I didn't say I thought you would believe it a favor," he said calmly. "Just that we knew it was. "
Christiana snorted and turned away, folding her arms angrily across her chest.
"Oh, aye, we would have been terribly comfortable waiting at Radnor not knowing what was happening and worrying ourselves sil y. My, I can't think why we fol owed you with so much to look forward to. "
"Wel , I'm glad you did. Thank you. We could have been stuck out there on the road al night," he said solemnly. Christiana stil ed, and then turned to peer at him suspiciously in the light cast by the lantern outside the window. After a moment, she relaxed enough to ask, "What happened?"
"It looks like three spokes in the front left wheel may have been cut. The whole wheel col apsed under the stress when they gave," he answered promptly, deciding there was no sense keeping the information from the women. It was better if they were prepared and had an eye out for trouble too. Christiana turned sharply to peer at him. "Cut? Are you certain?"
Richard hesitated. "Not completely, but the breaks on three spokes side by side were almost straight across while the others were jagged and splintered. "
"George's poisoner?" she asked unhappily.
"That would be my guess," he acknowledged.
"What? George was poisoned?" Suzette asked at once, and Richard glanced over to see that Daniel had drawn the young woman onto his own lap to make room on their side of the carriage. Suzette was sitting, arms crossed and expression grim like her sister, apparently not real y happy to be there either.
"It seems George may have been poisoned," Christiana explained. "Daniel and Richard smel ed bitter almonds by his mouth. "
